McManus 168

About

The Albert Institute (now the McManus, Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum) was established in 1867 as the first civic museum and art gallery in Dundee. It was funded entirely through public subscription with 261 original subscribers giving £15,770 in 1863. This project was set up by the McManus 168 Group (Supporters of The McManus) to mark the 150th anniversary of The McManus and to shed new light on Dundee’s history and heritage.

The project brought together all the heritage groups in Dundee and had an expert project planning team with academics, genealogists, archivists, the library service and Leisure and Culture Dundee, project managers and history enthusiasts.

We recruited 30 lead researchers (with experience of archival research) and 75 novice researchers (with little or no such experience), ranging in age from 16 to 84 and from right across Dundee. They collected information on the subscribers and this is what you will find in the archive.

With a 10k grant from Heritage Lottery, fundraising by the McManus 168 Group and additional funding from Leisure and Culture Dundee we were able to have the services of an excellent coordinator and a web designer/IT expert. The project ran from June 2017 to June 2018.